Sumino to the Rescue!
by princedwardriveria
Summary: Aya needs help. Will Sumino-san be able to save her? Or will Aya's attitude get on Sumino's last nerve? Set after the end of book 2 with the wilted sunflower.  Rated Kplus to be safe.I know, that sounds weird.
1. Seeds

Chapter 1: Seeds

It was a beautiful summer morning, with the sun shining and clouds scattered around the sky. I was walking to school with my best friend, Arisa Tanaka.

"Suminon!" called Arisa, who was waiting for me to hurry up.

"Don't worry Arisa-san, I'll catch up!" I yelled back.

I'm Hikage Sumino, 8th grader. I used to be invisible, but thanks to the support of my now best friends, I overcame that shyness and stepped into the sun.

And now I have to thank them. The sunflower I have taken so much care of has wilted, and I've decided to give out its seeds to everyone. Two big bags are reserved for Mega Pig, who was there from the beginning posting on my blog, and the other is a forgiveness present for Aya-san, who's only friend I unknowingly stole. She didn't seem to accept her state of mind when I last talked to her but I hope she'll come around. I don't want her to end up like my former self.

I walked up to the front gate and skipped down the path to my class.

"Hi Sumino-san!" came lots of energetic greetings towards me. A few months ago no one would have noticed me walk in. I skipped up the stairway and through the halls, looking out the windows at the lovely morning sky. As I approached my classroom I saw Hinata and Teru-kun talking, looking concerned.

"Hinata-kun, what's wrong?" I asked. We had only been going out for a few weeks but we had already learnt to trust each other with important information.

"Oh, hey Sumino!" Hinata replied. "Umm, listen… you know Aya?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, we heard this crying and then out of nowhere, we saw her dash down the corridoor, crying. She looked really depressed."

"What!" I shouted. Aya's not the person who would usually do that sort of thing. I had better go check on her, as I feel as if I have something to do with it.

"Hinata, do you know where she went?" I asked quickly, as I thought something bad may happen if I didn't hurry.

"No she didn't sa…"

"She went down to the sunflower, I saw her running in that direction so I figured she'd be going there," cut in Teru. I guess he would know if someone needed to go to the sunflower, as he was Black rabbit, the calm, friendly one of the two commenters on my blog. He knew about my struggles and

"Thanks Teru-kun, I appreciate it!" I shouted behind me, as I made a dash for the spot where the flower was planted.

"That better not have been an attempt to make her like you," I heard Hinata say as I reached the stairs. Sometimes he's too overprotective. But I've alredy told him I'm not going to leave him for Teru. In fact, I think that Hinata's overprotectiveness may have caused Teru to like me. If he hadn't been telling Teru to back off when Teru wasn't even trying to get me to like him, Teru may have not considered that he may have been interested in me.

But I couldn't let arguments like that get in the way of our friendship.

Just before I reached the plant, I saw a figure on their knees, trying to nurture the almost dead sunflower back to health. I stopped running so as to not disturb them and observe. It was Aya. I guess she needsthis plant to, just as much as I did when I was alone.

After I stole Hinata, she became jealous of me and started bullying me. However, everyone else realised that she was wrong about me forcing Hinata on a date, which she had made up. In fact, she almost broke this poor sunflower apart. But I found the strength to stop her, only damaging the plant a little In the process. I'll never forget that day, because she opened up to me about her lonliness and how everyone abandoned her when she bullied me. I had told her that she could become like me if she tried.

But she wouldn't accept that she was broken, bent, lonely. She ran off and we haven't talked since.

"What are you doing here, Sumino-san, trying toget me to be your friend again?" said Aya, in her usaul bored tone, waking me up from my memories. I could see the tear marks on her cheeks and she was still trying to stifle a sob.

"Uh, no actually. I heard that you had been crying and I came over to see if you were okay. I also came to give you this." I said, holding out the bag of seeds I had carefully wrapped for her. "It's an apology present. I'm sorry if I caused your life to be miserable, and if you need anything, please tell me."

Aya just stared at me for a second but then snatched the bag off me and said, " Well, I'm fine as you can see, I don't need help, and if you kept out of my life, I might just become a little happier!"

"But the sunflower, I just saw you taking care of it…"

"NO! I was just, umm…," she said a little flustered, " Oh, I give up! Yes, I need the flowerbecause I have no one to talk to! Yes, I need help! But you aren't making it any better, so just stop your stupid act and leave! She screamed and ran off outside th school, still holding the bag of seeds.

"Wait, Aya…! I'm not acting…don't go…" I cried. Why did she have to be so stubborn? I'm only doing what's best for her… yet she thinks she can do it herself. I need to prove to her that we all still want to be friends with her. But how?

I sulked back to class and thought about nothing else for the whole day. Arisa, Hinata, Teru and the others were puzzled by this but kept away from me.

"Umm, excuse me Sumikawa-san, do want to come to our sleepover party tonight?" asked one of the other Yr 8 girls. I thought about it and almost said no but I realised that this could be the chance I need to get everyone on board with helping Aya.

"Sure! And it's Sumino, by the way."

"Great! Everyone, Sumina-san is joining us as well!"

I guess a part of me will always be forgotten. Some people can just never remember.


	2. Sleepover Plot

**Wow, it took a while...a long while...  
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**But never mind, chapter 2 is here! I'll probably write one more chapter and finish it, cause VL and EB deserve more attention.**

**I don't own Koko in Iru Yo or the characters. The plot may or may not be owned by fluff, you guys decide.**

**Reviews are welcome!  
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><p><strong>Chapter 2: The Sleepover Plot<strong>

"That was really funny Hikage!" I said to myself as I imagined what it would be like at the sleepover. All the girls would find me entertaining and nice, and I would be one step closer to my dream of being fully remembered at school.

I approached the house the girl had told me to go to, and sighed.

It was a big house, one I wished I had, but as I approached, I could see the welcoming lights and loud laughter coming from inside.

'_They must have already started. Oh well…' I thought._

I rang the doorbell and the door was immediately opened by the girl who invited me.

"Hi! Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said apologetically, when she saw my look of surprise. "I saw you coming from ages away and I rushed to get the door before you rang the bell."

"That's okay, I'm just a little startled, that's all."

"Great! Hey, we're going to play hide and seek inside the house, want to play?"

I paused. Hide and seek never went well for me. But I did want to play…

"Okay, but I have to find everyone first," I said sternly. That way no one would forget me. Just a precaution.

"Fine by me, come on in!" she said. I followed her in and sighed again. It was even more beautiful inside than out.

"This is a very nice place you have…umm sorry, what's your name-oh," I asked before I realised that she was gone. I guess they had already begun playing.

I decided to walk up the stairs, and the closer I got to the room near the top, I could hear uncontrolled bursts of laughter. The room in question was the bathroom. And I was pretty sure the girl in question was Arisa.

"Found you!" I shouted and pounced on the crouched down figure hiding in the bath.

"Oww, Hikage-san! That hurt!"

"Sorry Arisa! Horrible hiding spot by the way. Why were you laughing?"

"I was reading a manga while hiding and I accidentally laughed out loud. Now let's go find the others," and with that, she stepped out of the bath and marched out of the bathroom and down the stairs, with me skulking along behind, as if I was the one who'd been found.

I realised this could be the chance to confirm my plan to Arisa before I unveiled it to the other girls. I didn't want to look like an idiot.

"Hey, Arisa-san…" I began.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking about a plan to help Aya-san with getting her friends back." This made Arisa turn around to face me and laugh.

"You seriously want to help her after all she said and did to you? Nice one Hikage-san, but I think that's a little too out there, even for you!"

"Arisa, I'm not joking! I want to help her! I feel bad about ruining her life…"

"Oh, you're not kidding…well I think she ruined her own life, so you shouldn't worry-"

"You're my friend Arisa, you should support me! I really think that this is important," I protested. She thought about it for a while and then turned around quickly, as if something had alerted her.

"What was that? I think it could be someone hiding behind the curtain over there!" she said hurriedly, trying to avoid the subject. I guess she needed some time to think about it. Or she was being rash.

"One by one, we found girls hiding behind curtains, under beds, all the usual spots. It seems they were more eager for bed, but why would anyone want to go to bed at a sleepover? I thought the whole concept was to stay up all night and have fun."

"Oh, you'll see why were so excited," said Arisa knowingly when I asked her.

"Okay girls, bed time!" yelled the host girl's mother. A stampede of squealing girls ran up the stairs and into the room laden with a million futons. Unfortunately they left me at the foot of the stairs, dumbfounded.

"He-he-hey! Wait for me!" I yelled up to them as I rushed up the stairs, into the room and sat down on the last empty futon. What I found was astonishing.

"Okay, so what's the best bit of info anyone has on Teru-kun!"

"Oh! I heard he still has feelings for Sumino-san!"

"Hey Hikage-san, is this true?" I sat there, feeling a little intimidated and scared.

"Umm, I think so…but what is this all about? Has something happened to Teru-kun?"

"No, of course not! What's wrong, haven't you ever done this at a sleepover before?"

"Well, to tell the truth, I've never been to a sleepover before." There was a loud gasp from the audience of watching girls as they heard this. I thought it would be quite obvious though. The invisible girl, who would think to invite her?

"Well Sumino-san, this is normal for a sleepover. We go to bed and talk about friends, enemies, fashion, music, everything!" the host girl explained.

So for the next hour, that's exactly what we did. I was surprised to find out I had a lot in common with most of the girls. They were even more surprised when I said I wasn't offended by Aya. This topic triggered my memory and I had the sudden urge to bring something up. It was time to put my plan to the public.

"So, ahh…how would you guys feel about bringing Aya back into the group?" This comment was met with gasps and groans and shouts of, 'no way!'

"Hikage-san, are you serious? She's a complete psycho!" one girl said.

"After what's happened, we've seen her true nature, and we don't like it," another said.

"And besides, she can just others to hang out with and boss about," the host girl said.

"But you used to like her and hang out with her! You must understand that she's all alone and she can't make new friends and she's hurt…and…and," I tried to continue but there was no use. I sat there, crying. It was one simple question I had asked, one wish. And one minute later, it had been shattered.

"Suminon, please don't cry," whispered a voice next to me. It was Arisa. I looked up and saw the other girls crowded around whispering to each other.

"Okay, if Aya really is struggling to find happiness again, I guess we'll help. It's the least we can do since we ruined her life," said the host girl sternly.

"Y-y-you… will?" I said, still shaking and tear-stained.

"Yeah, if it makes you feel better! We sort of owe you a favour too."

"Oh, okay…well I have a plan to get her back, but it's going to be tricky, we want her to feel that we really mean this."

"Gather round everyone!" called Arisa. We huddled close and discussed our plan of action.

Aya better bring her tissues, 'cause this plan is a tear-jerker.

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><p><strong>Uh-huh, final chapter is going to have a lot of tears. Cry-fest! Also, VL chapter 3 will be the next release. Valentine special. It's a month off, I know.<br>**

**See you soon!**

**Ed  
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